Scream of the Evil Genie Read online

  “Uh, I never said anything about curling,” you reply, trying to stand up for yourself. “I just wanted to be a sports star.”

  “And I made you a sports star,” Jenna responds.

  “But I — ”

  “GRRRRRR,” Jenna growls and you stop protesting.

  When she bares her teeth, you see that they’re sharply pointed. She holds her face up close to yours and growls again.

  Turn to PAGE 33.

  “Help!” you scream. You fling your arms over your head and squeeze your eyes shut tight. Your heart hammers so hard, you think your chest will burst.

  Then you hear a loud thud. Behind you.

  “Open your eyes,” the parrot squawks. “Get the cola can.”

  Huh?

  Slowly, you open your eyes and realize that the tiger leaped over you — not at you! You hear him panting right behind you. You can feel his hot breath on your neck.

  “Get the cola can,” the parrot repeats.

  With your heart still pounding, you try to do what the parrot says. You slowly approach the cola machine. You push the quarters into the slot and hit the button.

  KA-CHUNK. A can thumps down the chute and rolls out into your waiting hand. Nervously, you flip open the metal tab.

  Pfft.

  “Oh, no!” you wail. “No genie! It’s just cola!”

  Now you’ll never get off the island!

  Turn to PAGE 26.

  A bunch of Randy’s friends stand in your front yard.

  “How did that happen?” you hear them asking each other. “Did you see the sky go dark? Where did that metal thing go?”

  Too hard to explain, you think.

  But the important thing is, the monster is nowhere to be seen.

  You turn back to the living room and stare at the mess.

  Broken glass. Pizza boxes. Cola cans everywhere.

  Empty cola cans. Not full ones.

  “Close one,” Randy declares, scrambling to his feet. “You used your last wish. Thanks.”

  “Yeah,” you say a little sadly. Then you spot Jenna. She’s sitting cross-legged on top of your family’s big TV. She looks sad, too.

  “Oh, well.” She sighs. “If I have to get stuck with a real job — being a real mom forever — I guess this isn’t so bad. I’d rather have you guys than any of the other kids I’ve met.”

  “But you are our real mom,” Randy says.

  Not really, you think. Your real mom is in a cola can somewhere. And Jenna will never be able to get her back. Her genie powers have come to an

  END.

  You head for the food court. You can’t resist buying a few things along the way: a ring for your mother, a game for your brother, a stuffed dinosaur for your sister, and a shower radio for your dad. At each store you tell the clerk to “keep the change.” It’s fun to see their shocked faces when you do!

  At the food court, you pile your tray high with all your favorite junk food. Peter does the same thing.

  The cashier tells you you’re going to get sick eating all that. But you just smile back and hand her a hundred-dollar-bill. “Keep the change,” you tell her. Then you follow Peter to a table.

  “Shopping is a great way to work up an appetite,” you joke.

  “I know what you mean.” Peter takes a slurp of his chocolate shake. He glances past you. “That’s weird,” he mutters.

  “What?” You turn around in your chair to see what he’s staring at. A small crowd is gathering at the edge of the food court. Some of them point at you.

  “Aren’t those the salespeople from the stores we were in?”

  You gaze at the group. “I think you’re right,” you murmur. “I wonder what they want?”

  You won’t have to wonder long if you turn to PAGE 126.

  You decide to go on living with a blue face. Why not?

  You don’t want to waste one of your three wishes just to turn your face back to its regular color. And besides — your new mom has red-and-purple hair. A blue face will fit right in!

  There’s only one thing that’s bothering you….

  “Uh, M-m-mom?” you stammer. It’s weird calling Jenna by that name. “Uh, how come my face turned blue when Randy made a wish?”

  “I’m giving him two wishes,” she answers you. “Or maybe three. Or four! I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll like him better than you.”

  “You can’t do that!” you cry.

  “Who says?” Jenna replies.

  Randy’s mouth is open so wide, it’s hanging down to his chest. Finally, he closes it enough to talk.

  “Give me a break,” Randy says, looking at you. “You don’t really believe Mom can grant wishes. You don’t think I did that, do you? Like, if I say, I wish that your face will be pink-and-yellow stripes, it’s going to turn — WHOA!”

  Turn to PAGE 106.

  “Okay,” you tell the young woman with the clipboard. “I’ll get into my costume. Just give me a minute.”

  “Don’t you want some help?” she asks, sounding surprised.

  You shake your head. “No. I can do it myself.”

  Boy, were you wrong!

  For the next twenty minutes, you struggle to get into the pink-and-green dragon suit. It’s a joke. A really bad joke. The body part of the costume is stiff, hot, and hard to zip up. And the head? It’s so heavy, it’s like wearing a blanket!

  Finally, you stumble out onto the soundstage to face a mob of antsy, squirming preschoolers. They clap and chant as soon as they spot you.

  “Wilfred! Wilfred! Wilfred!” You never knew four-year-olds could be so loud!

  The TV lights are even hotter than the lights in your dressing room. Sweat trickles into your eyes. You try to blink away the sting, but it doesn’t help.

  The headpiece isn’t only hot and heavy — it’s also much too big for you. It keeps slipping and sliding around, banging into your nose. Sometimes the eyeholes don’t line up with your eyes.

  You can’t stand it! You rip the costume head off.

  Uh-oh. Big mistake.

  Turn to PAGE 113.

  “Shut up!” Jenna bellows. “Nothing’s happened to me! This is what I really look like. Got a problem with that?”

  “No!” you respond hastily. “Of course not!”

  Jenna narrows her cat eyes at you and bares her fangs.

  “What … do … you … WANT?” she demands, spitting each word out slowly.

  What do I want? you wonder. With this new, scary Jenna in front of you, and a panting tiger behind you, you can’t think straight!

  But you’ve noticed one thing for sure. Every time you make a wish, it turns out wrong. Not at all how you expected. You know you’re going to have to word your last wish very carefully.

  Finally, you figure out what you’re going to say.

  “Here’s what I want,” you say to Jenna. “I want to go home, and have everything be just the way it was before you came along. Except for one thing. I want to remember all the amazingly cool stuff that’s happened to me. Okay?”

  “Are you sure that’s what you want?” Jenna sneers. “Maybe you’d better wish that tiger would go away. He’s about ready to attack!”

  Quick, if you save yourself from the tiger, turn to PAGE 36.

  If you bravely refuse to change your wish, turn to PAGE 62.

  “Are you sure that’s the right wish?” you demand.

  Jenna just shrugs.

  Smash!

  The back door splinters into pieces. The monster!

  “Okay,” you cry. “I wish I never met you, Jenna.”

  For an instant, the world is dark. Spinning. Finally, everything is still. You open your eyes — and find your mother standing beside you. Your regular mom!

  Except you notice she’s wearing funny clothes. You glance down. So are you.

  You gaze at your mother again. You realize her clothing resembles the costumes worn in the Thanksgiving pageant at your school. She looks just like a Pilgrim.

  Uh-oh.

 
; “Um, excuse me?” you begin uncertainly. “What’s your name?”

  She laughs. “You know my name, silly. It’s Lavinia.”

  Lavinia? That’s the name of your great-great-great-great-grandmother.

  Jenna granted your wish all right. She’s sent you back to a time before you ever met her.

  Way before.

  And that was your last wish. So this story comes to an old-fashioned

  END.

  You clutch the can of cola tightly in your left hand. With your right, you quickly snap open the lid.

  FFFFSSSZZZZZZZZ!

  With a fizzing, hissing sound, a huge cloud of vapor escapes from the can. It grows bigger and louder, filling the room. Then a frightening figure squeezes out of the can and floats in front of you.

  “Jenna?” you gasp when you see her.

  The genie hovers above you, a nasty grimace twisting her face. She looks so … different! Her hair is more spiky, and more colorful. Harsh red, glaring blue, angry green. Instead of a fuzzy sweater and jeans, she’s wearing black leather from head to toe. The metal studs sticking out all over her jacket look as if they could cut you. The black leather pants are draped with heavy chains. Her huge black boots have sharp metal points on the toes.

  Instead of greeting you with her cheery “What’s up?,” she growls. Or hisses. Like a cat. Her teeth are sharp and pointed, too. She narrows her eyes and gives you a mean glare.

  “So?” she snaps. “What do you think you want this time, smart-mouth?”

  Answer her on PAGE 41.

  You race to the water’s edge, then start jogging along the beach to see where it leads.

  You figure you’ll eventually find a resort or something.

  You spot footprints in the sand! Then you realize that they’re yours! You’ve run in a big circle. You’re back where you started. It’s an island! A deserted island!

  You flop down on the beach. And sit straight back up.

  There’s a rustling sound in the trees behind you. Maybe you’re not as alone on this island as you thought.

  Thick trees, hung with dense vines and brightly-colored flowers, crowd the middle of the island. It looks like a small, dark jungle.

  “Hello?” you call out. “Anybody here?”

  The trees stop rustling.

  You listen hard, but the lapping of the waves makes it difficult to hear.

  “Helllll-ooooo!” you shout, cupping your hands to your mouth.

  Nothing.

  And then you hear a roar. An animal roar!

  If you look for a place to hide, turn to PAGE 72.

  Or maybe you’re better off staying where you are. You’d hate to get lost, or worse. If you stay put, turn to PAGE 65.

  “I wish a monster would jump out of the closet and scare Randy — right now!” Kate says.

  Oh, no, you think. Your stomach tightens into a million knots. You gaze at the closet door, which is still closed. Randy’s friends are all laughing and making fun of Kate.

  But when Randy’s eyes meet yours, he realizes what you’ve already figured out.

  Her wish is going to come true.

  Any second now.

  Turn to PAGE 43 — if you dare!

  Are you sure you want to get rid of the huge monster insect? The monster that has your brother gripped in enormous claws?

  You better believe it!

  “Why not?” you demand. “Why shouldn’t I wish the bug away?”

  “Because your real mom is inside that cola can,” Jenna whispers. “And if you don’t find that can and wish her out of it, you’ll never get rid of me.”

  “Can’t you wish to switch places with my mom?” you ask hopefully.

  Jenna shakes her head, rattling her earrings. “I don’t get to make wishes myself,” she explains. “I only grant them.”

  “Okay, okay.” You try not to panic. “How about if I wish for her to come back — and for you to go away?”

  “Couple of problems, kiddo.” She snaps her gum at you. “One. You’d still have the bug on your hands. And two. I can’t get back into the cola can if I don’t have it!”

  “Wish!” Randy screams as the bug pulls him closer. “Wish away the monster!”

  What are you going to do?

  If you use your last wish to get rid of the bug, turn to PAGE 115.

  If you go to find the cola can first, turn to PAGE 119.

  You can’t make a wish without Jenna’s cola can. And those three quarters were your only chance.

  Even the parrot starts to cry!

  You fling the cola can onto the ground in despair.

  “No! No! No!” You slam your fist against the side of the cola machine.

  Then something wonderful happens.

  Another can of cola drops down.

  “Can it be… ?” You pick it up. “Oh, please, please, please be the right can!” You take a deep breath and flip open the top.

  In a huge stinging spray of soda and red gas, Jenna shoots out of the can.

  You hardly recognize her….

  Her eyes are a poisonous yellow color, shaped like a cat’s. Her teeth are all fangs now. Razor sharp and deadly. Her hair stands straight up in spiky points that look as deadly as her teeth.

  “J-J-Jenna?” you stammer. “What happened to you?”

  Turn to PAGE 20.

  You decide to ride the tiger.

  It seems as if it’s your only hope of catching up to Jenna.

  You hurry back to the clearing. You crouch in some bushes and peer through the leaves at the tiger. He’s still sitting there, not moving.

  You can see his sharp teeth inside his open mouth as he pants.

  Hmmmm.

  Maybe you should sneak up on him, taking him by surprise.

  You creep up behind the tiger. You reach out and grab a handful of the thick furry skin at his neck. Then, as quickly as you can, you straddle the animal like a horse.

  The minute you climb onto him, he bolts up and sprints through the jungle.

  “Help!” you scream, barely able to hang on.

  The tiger’s head whips around and he snarls ferociously in your face.

  He looks as if he’s going to snap your head off.

  Turn to PAGE 133.

  Your hands fly up to your face to protect it.

  “AWWWRKKK!” the bird screams again.

  Sharp claws dig into your skin as it lands on your shoulder!

  “Aaaahhhhhhh!” you shriek, more in shock than in pain.

  You turn your head slightly and peek out from behind your hands.

  It’s a parrot! You’ve got a great big parrot perched on your shoulder!

  “Follow me,” the parrot squawks. Then it reaches up with one clawed foot and pulls at your hair. “Follow me!” it screams.

  Well?

  Are you going to follow the parrot? If so, turn to PAGE 30.

  If not, turn to PAGE 47.

  You head for the pantry to check on James’s progress. He should have found the genie by now!

  As you cross through the family room, smoke begins pouring out of the pantry. But not smoke from a fire. Jenna’s smoke!

  Great! you think. That must mean James found the can with the genie in it….

  The smoky cloud grows bigger and bigger. You can’t see. A whooshing sound fills your ears. You can’t help coughing.

  And then you realize something — this isn’t Jenna’s smoke. This is the cloud that appears when she grants a wish!

  That’s strange, you think. Why is the cloud here? I didn’t make a wish.

  As the smoke fades away, you discover that the family room has changed. All the video games and the huge-screen TV are gone. Instead, the walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves — filled with old books!

  You gaze around. You don’t understand.

  What happened?

  Maybe you’ll find out on PAGE 88.

  The parrot removes its claw from your shoulder. Then it flies off, into the jungle.

 
You decide to follow it. Meeting a talking bird isn’t any stranger than anything else that’s happened to you today. And it might help you find the cola can. You never know.

  Vines dangle in your face as you hurry to keep up with the colorful bird. It’s way ahead of you, but it’s easy to spot. Its brilliant yellow and blue feathers stand out in the dense green of the jungle.

  Now that you’re in it, the jungle seems huge. And confusing. With all the twists and turns you’ve taken, you don’t think you’ll ever find your way back out.

  The bird leads you deeper and deeper into the jungle. Where could it be leading you?

  Finally, it lands on the top of a tall tree, a few feet ahead of you. It squawks again.

  “Hurry up!” it calls in its scratchy parrot voice.

  You pick up your pace.

  Then you hear a low growl — from the bushes just ahead.

  Is the parrot leading you into a trap?

  Turn to PAGE 101.

  “I wish to be a famous sports star,” you tell Jenna.

  “That’s cool,” Jenna says. She gives you a strange smile. “Yeah. Very cool.”

  An instant later, you hear a hissing sound.

  Then the whole room fills up with a white cloud of smoke. You can’t see a thing. When the cloud of smoke clears away, you find yourself standing outside in the middle of nowhere — on a frozen pond.

  It’s a crisp, clear, freezing cold winter day. All you can see for miles around is snow. Snow-covered trees. Snow-covered rocks. Snowy rolling hills. Even snow on the ice.

  You glance down and realize that you’re wearing skates — and holding a broom in your hands.

  There’s something heavy in your coat pocket.

  “Hey!” you shout out. “Where am I?”

  No one answers you.

  “HEY! What happened?” you cry, beginning to panic. “Jenna? Where am I?”